Her daughter-in-law was experiencing the challenges of being a first time mom, and the sleeplessness,stress and questions it brings. As she expressed some of her questions and concerns, my friend and I started offering OUR ideas. With a great deal of respect and without one shred of animosity, the young woman said, "Well, we younger wives and moms don't really need advice from older women anymore because we have The Internet."
NO, she did NOT say that. In front her of her MOTHER IN LAW? Yes. She did. And you know what? She wasn't wrong. It is the God's honest truth that younger wives and mothers alive today have 94 kabillion blogs - give or take a couple of kabillion - 47 quatrogazillion books, 14,325 billion YouTube videos, and enough books to stretch from here to Saturn available (my statistics may not be accurate) and they are ALL FILLED with advice on how to be a wife, mom, mother. Much of it is good, some of it is Godly and all of it is easy to read in the privacy of your own home with the touch of a button. .
Soooooooo.....with all the information readily available to younger women.. it seems like we older ones are out of the teaching younger woman responsibility and we can just sit back and get a tan in Boca and spend our time shopping for stuff.
We are off the hook, younger women.. because...
....you have the Internet. (sighs of relief all over the world.. especially in Church World) It hurts a little.. to be honest... Like my friend said to her daughter-in-law in response to her Internet comment, "Well then why don't you call the Internet the next time you need a babysitter?" (ooops... ) However, the fact that you don't want to listen doesn't excuse us from having to teach. No. It. Does. Not.
One thing is certain - God and His Word NEVER CHANGE and a thousand years is like a day to God.
So then... two thousand or more years ago, when the Holy Spirit had these words of instruction written: "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God" ....He knew that a couple of thousand years later Al Gore would invent the Internet. (Or someone would.)
QUESTION: So then what SHOULD an Older Woman Say To A Younger One?
ANSWER: NOTHING.
HUH?
BEFORE we open our mouths.. the way we LIVE does our talking. Are those verses saying that the older woman's lifestyle has something to do with her being qualified to try and teach a younger woman? Uhhhhh... yes? Yes.
We are to be reverent in the way WE live. We are the ones who DO NOT slander, who ARE NOT addicted, who ARE self-controlled and pure, busy at home, kind, and subject to OUR husbands. Maybe younger women in the church aren't listening to the older women in the church because we are all talk - as in gossip, slander, complaining, grumbling... and no action. (I'm not saying it's true.... I'm asking a pointed question and I'm not pointing it at you.... o.k....... take a deep breath.. it's o.k.... leave your comments below if you must..)
HOWEVER... there is something an older woman can and SHOULD say to a younger woman. It's something no book can offer.
Something no blog (including this one) can complete.
And something no Internet website can do.
"What SHOULD an Older Woman Say to A Younger One?"
Two words: "LET'S PRAY"
What happened to PRAYER in churches? Where did it go? Who said it was allowed to leave? Not God. Not Jesus. Not the One who said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."
Sometimes I think it's because we are a society who substitutes fame with substance. Even Christians think that if many people KNOW about their "ministry" they must be doing well.
Just because someone is well known on earth, doesn't mean they are well known in heaven.
Prayer is concerned about an audience of One.
No one applauds a praying woman.
Except the One who matters.
And the people she prays with.
"Let's pray" and then doing it is a LOST ART in the Body of Christ.
You know it's true.
Where are the praying women of the Body Of Christ?
Come out, come out where ever you are.
More next time.
XO,
Mrs. Older
No comments:
Post a Comment